Tennessee always exceeds expectations in road games versus Kentucky

Kentucky will host Tennessee at night on Saturday night at Kroger Field. These are the games that are typically pretty tough to win if you are the road team. That hasn’t been the case recently in Lexington but UK still fares well against ranked opponents despite being the just 1-13 in its last 14 games versus power conference competition.

Mark Stoops and Kentucky are Kentucky is 7-1-1 ATS in its last nine games versus ranked opponents with pair of upset wins over top-10 team. UK is 12-6 ATS as home underdog since 2016. The Vols are currently a nine-point favorite for Saturday’s game. This is typically a spot where the Wildcats thrive. Well, they thrive pretty much against everyone not named Tennessee.

In the last 11 meetings in Lexington, the Vols are 9-2 outright and 10-1 ATS. The only non-cover was when Kentucky won outright as a six-point dog in the Matt Roark game back in 2011. Even Tennessee’s winless SEC team in 2017 covered as a four-point dog in a three-point loss to Kentucky. There have been multiple games where the Big Orange were not favorite. The Cats were laying points in 2007, 2009, and 2019. The game was a pick ’em in 2021. The Vols won all of these matchups by one-possession.

In odd years, Tennessee makes the trip up I-75 to play Kentucky. Almost year, the Vols play one of their best games of the season against the Cats. You should probably expect the same even with Tennessee playing a rare consecutive SEC road game. Lexington was the second stop of a road trip in 2021 and 2023. Tennessee won and covered in each of those matchups.

The Vols always play well in Lexington.

Kentucky vs. Tennessee recent history

Year	Spread	Result	Record
2000	Kentucky (+19.5) at Tennessee	Vols 59, Cats 20	Tennessee cover
2001	No. 6 Tennessee at Kentucky (+18)	Vols 38, Cats 35	Kentucky cover
2002	Kentucky (+8) at Tennessee	Vols 24, Cats 0	Tennessee cover
2003	No. 7 Tennessee at Kentucky (+10.5)	Vols 20, Cats 7	Tennessee cover
2004	Kentucky (+23.5) at No. 15 Tennessee	Vols 37, Cats 31	Kentucky cover
2005	Tennessee at Kentucky (+9.5)	Vols 27, Cats 7	Tennessee cover
2006	Kentucky (+19) at No. 19 Tennessee	Vols 17, Cats 12	Kentucky cover
2007	No. 19 Tennessee at Kentucky (-3)	Vols 52, Cats 50 (4OT)	Tennessee cover
2008	Kentucky (+3.5) at Tennessee	Vols 28, Cats 10	Tennessee cover
2009	Tennessee at Kentucky (+3)	Vols 30, Cats 24 (OT)	Tennessee cover
2010	Kentucky (+2) at Tennessee	Vols 24, Cats 14	Tennessee cover
2011	Tennessee at Kentucky (+6)	Cats 10, Vols 7	Kentucky cover
2012	Kentucky (+13) at Tennessee	Vols 37, Cats 17	Tennessee cover
2013	Tennessee at Kentucky (+3)	Vols 27, Cats 14	Tennessee cover
2014	Kentucky (+10) at Tennessee	Vols 50, Cats 16	Tennessee cover
2015	Tennessee at Kentucky (+9)	Vols 52, Cats 21	Tennessee cover
2016	Kentucky (+13) at Tennessee	Vols 49, Cats 36	Push
2017	Tennessee at Kentucky (-4)	Cats 29, Vols 26	Tennessee cover
2018	No. 12 Kentucky (-5) at Tennessee	Vols 24, Cats 7	Tennessee cover
2019	Tennessee at Kentucky (-1)	Vols 17, Cats 13	Tennessee cover
2020	Kentucky (+6) at No. 18 Tennessee	Cats 34, Vols 7	Kentucky cover
2021	Tennessee at No. 18 Kentucky (PK)	Vols 45, Cats 42	Tennessee cover
2022	No. 19 Kentucky (+11) at No. 3 Tennessee	Vols 44, Cats 6	Tennessee cover
2023	No. 21 Tennessee at Kentucky (+3)	Vols 33, Cats 27	Tennessee cover
2024	Kentucky (+17) at No. 7 Tennessee	Vols 28, Cats 18	Kentucky cover